7 countries snap ties with Qatar

Seven countries, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UAE, on Monday severed ties with Qatar, accusing it of backing terrorism and opening up a rift among some of the most powerful Arab states that could have repercussions for the Indian economy and expatriates.

Bahrain was the first to snap ties, followed by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Yemen, Libya and the Maldives. They accused Qatar of backing groups such as al-Qaeda, Islamic State and the Muslim Brotherhood and policies that were destabilising the region.

Qatar denied the accusations and expressed “regret and utter surprise” at the coordinated move by the countries that are key players in OPEC and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The foreign ministry criticised the “unjustified measures” and said Size of annual bilateral trade between two countries

The approximate number of Indians in Qatar

Qatar is the largest supplier of

LNG to India: It exports 15% of its output, which constitutes 65% of India’s global LNG imports

India also imports ethylene, propylene, ammonia, urea and polyethylene from Qatar. India is the third largest export destination for Qatar (behind Japan and South Korea)

On Qatar’s imports list, India ranks 10th

Indian Companies in Qatar: L&T; Punj Lloyd; Shapoorji Palonji; Voltas; Simplex; TCS; Wipro; MahindraTech; HCL

Indian banks in Qatar: SBI, ICICI among others

there was a “smear campaign” to cause harm to Qatar.

As Saudi Arabia closed its borders and snapped land, air and sea links, residents rushed to supermarkets to stock up on food, Doha News reported. People stocked up on water, milk, meat and rice and photographs of empty chiller shelves circulated Number of CBSE schools in Qatar with 30,000 students

on social media, though the Qatari foreign ministry said the border closing would not affect normal life.

Qatar is home to an estimated 700,000 Indians – whose remittances in 2015 were worth $3.98 billion – and a government official in Doha said there was “no panic” in the expatriate community. “There is nothing to worry about,” the official said.

However, other sources acknowledged that a prolonged diplomatic crisis could have an impact as Qatar is completely dependent on Saudi Arabia for food supplies.

In New Delhi, the external affairs minister said India would not be affected by the diplomatic spat. “There is no challenge arising out of this for us. This is an internal matter of GCC. Our only concern is about Indians there. We are trying to find out if any Indians are stuck there,” she told reporters.

The current spat had its genesis in reports by Qatar’s official news agency in late May that purportedly said the Emir, Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, had criticised the US, offered backing for Iran, reaffirmed support for Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood and described Qatar-Israel relations as “good”.

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The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) searched on Monday the offices and home of NDTV founder Prannoy Roy over allegations of defrauding a bank, a move the news broadcaster denounced as a “witchhunt” to muzzle free speech.

Federal agents named Roy, his wife Radhika and a private company linked to NDTV – RRPR Holding Private Ltd – among others in a criminal case for allegedly causing a loss of ₹48 crore to the ICICI Bank.

In 2008, the ICICI Bank gave the private holding company a loan of ₹366 crore on personal guarantees of the Roys who pledged their shares that were valued more than the prevailing price at the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Within a year, the bank settled for an unexplained closure of the loan account, resulting allegedly in the loss of ₹48 crores on account of an interest waiver, the CBI’s formal probe launched last week said. The Roys moved out that amount from RRPR’s bank account, the CBI said.

“NDTV and ICICI entered into a criminal conspiracy to transfer ownership of a news company (NDTV) to a shell company, against banking rules, SEBI Act,” the CBI said in its first information report (FIR).

The raids come at a time when the opposition has accused the government of selectively targeting charities and media groups as part of a campaign to control free speech and dissent.

This year, India slipped three places to 136th in the World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders, which highlighted concerns that Hindu nationalists were “trying to purge all manifestations of anti-national thought”.

Neither of the Roy couple was available for comment but NDTV called the raids “concerted harassment… based on the same old endless false accusations”.

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